The revenant sailed through the air and impacted harshly against the far wall, thanks to Jaden's Force push, but the Jedi apprentice could not appreciate his handiwork as he doubled-over and retched on the floor.

"Bleeaaarrggh"

Jaden panted, trying to catch his breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand; thankfully, he began to feel better after that.

"What.....what's happening?" he whispered to himself, but knew he could not devote time analyzing what was happening. His ears perceived the revenant getting up once again, which caused him to shake his head, but his eyes...they saw the revenant's hand 'crawling' towards the man from the carbonite.

Jaden's reaction was immediate and instinctual. He swiftly kicked the crawling hand as far away as he could, as he hoped that it would land on sparking wires and to predictable results.

"Careful when using the Force!" Jaden shouted a warning out-loud, even as he spun around to face the revenant. "Using it in this room will make you ill!" he declared, and internally hoped that he was right about that assessment, all the while suspecting that such an effect was not likely to be that localized.

Now nearly face to face with the creature, Jaden gauged his actions carefully and initiated a counter-attack only after the revenant began to strike at him. Jaden pivoted to one side in order to avoid a strike and simultaneously slashed at the creature's trailing leg with his lightsaber. He'd aimed his slash to cleanly sever the knee joint.

Coming about to a defensive stance, Jaden shouted out once again. Being trained by Kyle himself had great advantages. For example, paying attention to detail often changed the playing field in an engagement to one's favour. Jaden hoped this was true in this case.

"Kyle! shoot the chest! Blast the heart! Blast it!"

The pulsing black mass bulging in the creature's chest was quite revulsing to Jaden. It made him mentally recoil, but he did not allow those feelings to keep him from fulfilling his duty as a jedi. Though he had no idea how they came to be in this place, it was clear to him now that they were here for a specific purpose.

Name: Bargos Vesh/AENRAGender: MaleAge: Unknown, estimated mid to late 30sRace: [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Duros]Duros[/link]/Internal Medical droid.Appearance: On the outside, Bargos initially appears to be a typical male Duros. Standing a shade over 1.8 meters tall and being of the typical slender build Bargos is considered attractive by the standards of his race.
However if one looks closer, one would see that here and there he has a small scar, or that his entire body is not slender but seemingly built out of sinew and tendons, the kind one gets from racing swoop bikes at high speed. However what is most notable is that upon closer inspection his silver eyes are not natural, but instead seem to be made up of some sort of cyber-organic hexagonal grid, and that without his goggles he seems pretty much blind.
Given his status of being in induced hibernation, Bargos wears a simple flimsiplast tunic and pants as well as simple hospital shoes. However the simplicity ends at a piece of eyewear that looks like a cross between a welders glareshades and verpine ocular enhancers. These of course allow both personalities to see, see very well in fact...

Being an internal medical droid, AENRA only appears during medical scans as a small complex dome with 4 grasping feet attached to the base of Bargus' spine, although Bargus has repeatedly claimed that in his subconscious AENRA does appear to be an Aleena.Personalities:Bargus: Sarcastic, darkly humorous, resourceful, headstrong, occasionally seems to argue with nobodyAENRA: Calculating, inquisitive, unnecessarily cheerfulWeapons: None, although some can be improvised and/or acquired in a hurry.Bio: Given the course of his life, Bargus Vesh by all rights should be dead by this point. Yet this Duros has proven to be a scion of fortune to some degree, even if it does not seem readily apparent.

Bargus does not remember much about his early life. Fleeting memories have hinted that he was born on Fadden, and that he went into a career that was contrary to what most of his primary and extended family had envisioned for him.
That career was as a test pilot and space racer. Given his amnesia and the lack of records on file it is not exactly clear as to what his winning record is or how many ships he tested.

What is known is after Imperial control became too tight to bear, Bargus left the Corellian Control Sector with his cousin and a few friends and made his way to the outer rim. Once there he quickly found a new career as a Swoop Bike racer, winning a staggering amount of races and even going undefeated during one season.
However, it would prove to be yet another downfall. During one race a rather unscrupulous biker cut in front of him and re-heated his exhaust. The gasses melted the control cables for the front end of the bike and consequently sent his specially prepared [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Air-2_racing_swoop]Air-2[/link] swoop into a headlong spin on the ground. The final insulting and most devastating injury came when the power cells exploded and the residual radioactive fires hit his eyes.
The damage spread to his entire ocular system and severely damaged the motor control center of his brain, as well as damaging most other regions including those responsible for memory. The damage was so severe that even the periphery nervous system was damaged, rendering him unable to move anything beyond his arms and shoulders as well as severely diminishing his ability to communicate let alone see.

Set upon by doctors, the in-field medics had given up hope were it not for the fact that the physician that attended to him was himself a Duros, and a neurophysiology specialist no less. Before the Empire had come to his home he had been working on a radical new treatment for such injuries. The treatment involved the grafting of an internal medical droid to the base of his spinal cord, one that had a reservoir of nanobots that would slowly repair his damaged nervous system.

The thing took itÂ´s wounds pretty well. he had shot both legs. Instead of being crippled it just slowed down. And even the attack by the lightsaber and the force push from Jaden had not brought it down. It was time to apply a little more force, he decided and heard JadenÂ´s warning just as he was about to summon the force. Ill? What did that mean? Using the force makes one ill?

Jaden was fighting it with his blade now, so it was KyleÂ´s job to finish it off . . . as long as it was distracted.

Hissing out a silent curse Kyle pulled the switch of his gun to autofire and pulled himself of the ground. Whatever this was, they were in greater danger than he had thought. Someone was messing with the force, had created this thing . . . Kyle had never heard of it and by now, he assumed something like this would have come to his attention . . . and had abducted them all to this place. Someone. Someone knew very well what he was doing. And this someone was ruining the wrong JediÂ´s day.

With a scream that would hopefully distract the thing Kyle leaped forward, passing the creature and sliding over the ground on his knees, as he raised the rifle and pulled the trigger. The force might have been corrupted, his lightsaber gone. But if there was one thing Kyle Katarn could do without his Jedi skills then it was kill. Aiming at the neck and head region of the thing he kept on firing. He made sure all other were out of his line of fire. The creature had a rudimentary strategy, it felt pain, it had a nervous system. Probably it needed itÂ´s head. He kept the trigger pulled down, pressing the rifle against his shoulder and face to keep it under control. Until this thing would finally be dead. If it was alive anyway.

Jaden's reaction was immediate and instinctual. He swiftly kicked the crawling hand as far away as he could, as he hoped that it would land on sparking wires and to predictable results.

No such luck.

The hand landed on a large crate near the wall, and hit it with such force that the claws sunk deeply into the crates surface. The crate trembled as high pressure gas escaped from the punctures. The hand seemed to go crazy as it tried to escape the gas. Frost started to crawl up the claws, then the fingers. The hand jerked once more before snapping every single fingertip off and falling to the floor. Black fluid oozed from its wounds as it tried to pull itself away.

The gas finally stopped, and with a sharp snap of a latch, the crate's top swung out, reveling a perfectly preserved Duros.

Jaden's slash at the revenant's knee fell short as, again the revenant changed direction and targets. It turned toward Kyle as he screamed at it. Blaster fire erupted from Kyle's weapon, chewing away at the revenant's neck. The smell of charred flesh mixed with the rotten sickly sweat smell that permeated the air.

The revnant staggered as its head was burned from it's body. It hit the decking like rotten fruit. Black liquid burst from the head, congealed, and formed six spider-like legs. It scrambled to right itself, then oriented on Jaden. Black liquid burst from its mouth and formed long pincher-like mandibles. It skittered towards Jaden, its mandibles clacking loudly.

The body still stood upright. It lumbered towards Kyle soaking up every blaster bolt Kyle fired at it. Charred wounds covered the revenant's body. A stray bolt struck the lump of black tissue and an ear piercing trill filled the room.

The head shuddered fell and was still, the hand stopped moving, the body fell to its knees then pitched forward. The trill faded, and with it so did the stench. The Taint on the Force seemed to dissipate as if the conduit that feed it had been suddenly cut.
Tag: Grey, Vangarian, Fins, Aurelius, Rally

IC: Bargus Vesh/AENRALocation: Definitely not the medical center on Ord Cestus...
[hr]*By most standards the beach on Fadden that a Duros and an Aleena were discussing life on was gorgeous. White sand, violet skies, cobalt blue water lapping teasingly at the shoreline, even some bottles of Duros ale that were conveniently dug into a pit near them. Most beings would consider that paradise, and that conversation would be unneeded.

However conversation was taking place, mostly led by the Aleena in a curiously straightforward and loigcal fashion, and given the races' propensity to have large families and roam the galaxy, the conversation would have seemed strange to anybody listening.*

"As I understand it then, the biological purpose of the act is then to replace oneself as most beings tend to. However I do not understand performing said act for the sake of it. If it does not produce tangible results then why proceed at all?"

*The Duros couldn't have looked any more flabbergasted. It felt like this conversation had been going on for awhile and the Aleena wasn't getting the idea, though not for lack of trying. Still, he had seen people train dumber animals to do more complicated things, so maybe there was hope yet for him*

*The Aleena held one stubby arm up and looked up at seemingly nothing*

"My apologies Mr. Vesh, but emergency waking protocols have been initiated. Delayed significantly but they are working to spec. I do wish we could continue this conversation in the future of course."

"We shall see Aenra, we shall see."

*Then everything went black, because the beach, the ales, none of it was trully real. Even the beings were facsimiles, although they were representations of two very real beings.
No, the environment and conservation had taken place in the mind of the Duros which had just been woken up from hibernation in a very strange facility. Unlike the healthy shade of blue of his skin and the copper color of his eyes, in reality the Duros was very pale, and his eyes were a brassy-finished silver, and he was dressed in a set of black flimsiplast medical scrubs and shoes.
Most telling of course was the fact that he came out of what was obviously a very advanced medical stasis chamber.
Since the chamber had been breached, no gauges came to life, but a pump was quickly activated as well as several instruments retracted. Eventually the door of the chamber flipped open, revealing its contents. At first he didn't move, but then the Duros stirred, first twitches, then slow laborus movement, becoming more and more deliberate.

Suddenly the Duros heaved to one side, pitching himself over the side of the chamber and crashing unceremoniously onto the floor, highlighted by his next trick which was emptying his stomach of its contents forcefully. The Duros took a few breaths that started off very raggedly but quickly resolved themselves to normal deep breaths. However something was not right.*

"Aenra, Aenra are you there?" *He asked*

<<"I am still here Mr Vesh.">> *replied the voice of the Aleena*

"Aenra, what is going on? Where are the doctors and nurses, where is everybody? Am I awake at all?"

<<"Yes you are fully conscious Mr Vesh, however it appears you are suffering from a mild case of hibernation sickness.">>

"Mild?! I can't karking see anything, how is that mild!? Weren't you supposed to repair my eyes as well?

<<"I cannot see either Mr. Vesh, for I experience only what you do. However the blindness is unrelated to your hibernation sickness. Doctors must tend to your replacement ocular imagers before you can use them alone. However there is a recourse if you follow my instruction. First reach out with one hand and find the side of the stasis chamber which you exited. Find the footrest ridge, that will be the marker where we go from.">>

Pandimonium ensued all around him as his eye sight was returning. The Coriscantian was ordering him to a place of safety. Davin started seeing little catches here and there of movement as figures moved about at a high rate of speed and dexterity. He felt the "Happy Surprise" up his left sleeve and the telescoping Taser stick in the special holster mounted above his belt parallel to the small of his back. There came more yelling then a loud discharge of blaster fire from the sound of it, a blaster rifle on full auto. Davin dropped to the floor as he knew that it could get really crazy in such confinded places as this appeared to be. Suddenly he heard and now saw the figure both shriek and then drop like a wet rag. Just then his eyes cleared in time to see one of the figures kick something that was trying to move towards him. It looked like a human hand! But it had claws protruding out of it's finger tips! More adrenyline. This resulted in more and breathing and more oxygen. Now his sight was fully restored.

"I can see again!" he exclaimed.

He looked around and saw a high tech box which looked to be powered down. The fingered horror was impalling it with its elongated finger nails, which had caused it to remain stuck to the container. Smoke vented...no, steam?...no, cryogas. Yes cryogas was venting out of the puncture sites where the nails embedded themselves into the storage container's side. The hand had frozen then patially shattered as it struggled to move, thus breaking the nails and fingers off.

"Just what did I miss exactly?" asked Davin.

When he thought it couldn't get any stranger the container opened up. You could have heard a pin drop just then. Then it got stranger still. Then for all intents and purposes the comedy relief showed up. If it had been Palpatine rising from the dead, you couldn't have had more undivided attention being focused on the Duro that chose then to wake up from his beauty nap. Oh but there was more...after he puked and recovered, he started talking to himself...

ooc: Was there some "The Thing" homage in that laast post, JediHighlander?

Tried to reply to all and bring it all into some sort of timely order in my post. Hope you all are okay with it.

[hr]Kyle KatarnInside the Chamber, where things get crowded

When the thing had finally collapsed he sighed and raised to his feet. Giving his apprentice a look and a dry smile. "Dead." He said and looked down on the thing. "More os than before I hope." And he knelt down besides it, taking a second energy-pack from the dead body and replacing his. Looking up, he nodded to the Jensaari. "You should continue, we need to get outta here." He said to the man and then looked at the blind man who could already see again. Looked like he had been frozen for a very short time, only.

"Just what did I miss exactly?" The man asked. Kyle gave him another long look, trying to see anything that would tell him who he was. An ordinary guy, military trained, obviously. Nothing too subtle. Maybe one of the warrior cultures.

"This thing trying to kill all of us. And us killing it." Kyle replied and then turned to Jaden who was still standing besides him. He was fully aware these other men might be victims like him. But he also knew they might be part of this. So, he had only one person to trust here, right now. Jaden. That was actually one more than he usually had.

"Think my last shot hit this black tissue and seemed to kill him and his parts immediately. It has weak spots, after all. And it can be killed. ThatÂ´s something." He sighed. "Question is, how many more of these things are running around once we leave this room, I guess." And with that suddenly another Duros appeared from a metal box at the wall. Kyle almost shot him on sight . . . being another Duros, when the man was beginning to talk to himself. "Could be the beginning of the same thing, maybe we should shoot him." Kyle said but with a dry smile, showing he was joking. "Actually we donÂ´t know if this is Ord Cestus. But I doubt it." Kyle then replied to him. Turning himself to the Jensaari to see how far the man was with melting away the wall.

OOC: Sorry everyone. DRL really took up a lot of my time this weekend. The next two weeks are my exam/paper crunch, so I thank you for your patience.

[hr]Kalak-MureA Small Dark Place

Kalak watched as Blaster lit the revenant up hard. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. He saw the head come out, and then some sort of insect (or something) spring out of it's neck. It stumbled a bit, then died.

The hand that Jaden had kicked flew into a crate. Then the oddest thing happened, it froze. Then seemed to die. Then, from this crate emerged a Duros with welding goggles on. And he was talking to himself... This was certainly odd. All the Duros Mure had ever met had seemed to be either scum, or insane. This one seemed to fit the latter.

He switched his saber off, and holstered it. He looked towards the blind one, who was actually no longer the blind one. And he was snickering at the sight of the insane Duros. Mure found himself chuckling a bit as well.

Then the duros spoke, like he was reading Mure's mind.

"Um, greetings everyone? My name is Bargus Vesh, and I promise I am not crazy, well hopefully not anyway. I suppose this is a stupid question but this isn't the Porgo Memorial Rehabilitation Center on Ord Cestus, is it?"

Well this put a name to the crazy Duros, Vesh. The Jensaarai looked him over, (though you couldn't tell through the visor) and decided that this duros was in fighting condition. Sometimes insanity made people stronger fighters.

As things were calming down, Blaster picked up some extra ammo and nodded Mure towards the opening in the wall. Mure walked over, and then concentrated on becoming invisible. That's when he noticed that the force seemed clear again. That was a relief.

He slipped though the opening quietly, and took a slow look around, the immeadiate hallway looked clear, but it was dark, and Mure couldn't see around either corner. The ceiling, walls and floor were all the same stuff as the room. It all seemed dark and it didn't quite sit right with Mure. Listening carefully for any signs of life for a minute or two, he became satisfied that nothing living was nearby.

He slipped back into the room. He became easily seen again a second after he sliped in the room and said quietly, to the Blaster Jedi in particular, "Seems all clear". Then pausing, he put forward an offer. "Look, cap'n, I can be very hard to see if I don't want to be seen, maybe I should scout ahead, alone?" Puting extra emphasis on that last word. He motioned to the com unit by the corpse, "I could take that and stay in contact."

The Jensaarai waited for an answer. This party had grown fairly large. Mure hoped two things. First, that Blaster could lead, and second, that the others could follow.

If anyone would have told Jaden that a dead and severed head could suddenly sprout spider legs and skitter of its own will, the Jedi would have certainly laughed. This, however, was certainly no laughing matter.

"Dead." Kyle said dryly as he looked down on the 'slain' revenant. "More so than before I hope." he observed.

Jaden gave a wry chuckle as he was only too glad that Kyle managed to stop the revenant with his blaster rifle. Severing the creature with a lightsaber only created more hazards, it seemed.

Something was twisting the laws of nature and tainting the force. This could only mean the 'darkside' as far as Jaden was concerned, but who or what could be this powerful? It just seemed so...inconceivable. Was thsi only the revenat could do? Where there more of these things roaming about? Jaden certainly hoped not, but deep inside he knew the answer.

A sigh escaped him just then. Somehow, he needed to secure a moment to speak with his Master despite their growing numbers.

In the final analysis, Jaden surmised that stopping the creature and the cessation of all its ambulant severed parts, including the sudden 'clarity' in the force, was no mere coincidence. And speaking of coincidences, the Jedi apprentice was not sure what to think about the 'arrival' of the newest member to their fold, who had emerged from a container punctured by the revenant's severed hand.

Silently, Jaden observed the Duro with curiosity as it talked to itself; it chatted along for a moment until it seemed to become suddenly aware that it was not alone.

"Um, greetings everyone? My name is Bargus Vesh, and I promise I am not crazy, well hopefully not anyway. I suppose this is a stupid question but this isn't the Porgo Memorial Rehabilitation Center on Ord Cestus, is it?"

He didn't have any answers either, Jaden realized. From behind them, the man who was blind from carbonite rejoiced in the fact that his vision had returned. well, at least that was a good thing. It kept him from being absolutely defenseless and capable of brandishing a weapon.

"Just what did I miss exactly?" The formerly blind man asked. Jaden half turned and was about to answer when Kyle beat him to the punch.

"This thing trying to kill all of us. And us killing it." Kyle replied. Jaden caught a hint of his Master's suspicious look and nodded almost imperceptibly. Only Kyle would know that it meant that he understood. No, he was not about to trust anything either until they knew more and gained at least some control of the situation. But as long as there were no open hostilities....

"Think my last shot hit this black tissue and seemed to kill him and his parts immediately. It has weak spots, after all. And it can be killed. ThatÂ´s something."

Kyle wanted to mention that the creature seemed more vulnerable to the Force than to physical attacks, but hesitated. He wanted discuss this with his master first.

"Question is, how many more of these things are running around once we leave this room, I guess."

Instinctively, Jaden turned and looked at the opening, his eyes narrowing as he reached out to with the Force.

Nothing.

Jaden sighed with relief, but noticed Kyle giving the Duro that scrutinizing look.

"Could be the beginning of the same thing, maybe we should shoot him." Kyle said but with a dry smile, showing he was joking. Jaden had a shocked look on his face, but it vanished when he saw that his Master was only joking. He always had trouble telling the difference when Kyle made such jests. But in this case, it did ease the tension permeating the room, if only just a bit.

"Actually we donÂ´t know if this is Ord Cestus. But I doubt it." Kyle then replied to the Duros. Then turned towards Kalak.

Jaden did not sense immediate danger from the Duros or anyone else for that matter, but remained on alert, even as he only half-turned to regard the Jensaarai who slipped out through the opening and after a moment, returned.

"Seems all clear". The Jensaari reported and Kyle nodded. Jaden had got his hint, he felt it and his apprentice wanted to talk to him. Kyle would make sure there was room for it, as soon as they all had a little more room than the one they woke up in, at all. "Look, cap'n, I can be very hard to see if I don't want to be seen, maybe I should scout ahead, alone?" Being called Captain made Kyle smirk. Putting extra emphasis on that last word the Jensaari looked at him. He motioned to the com unit by the corpse and Kyle kenlt down to take it, along iwth all left ammo the body had with it. "I could take that and stay in contact." The Jensaari added. Kyle gave him a look, then looked out into the dark of the hole they had burned into the wall.

He could feel JadenÂ´s disapproval. The connection between a master and his apprentice was always strong with Jedi. That Kyle actually considered this special Jedi Apprentice a good friend of him made it only stronger. Splitting up was indeed a great risk. Jensaari were known to be brave, but Kyle thought if he was ready to take it yet. He decided it was hard to evaluate, knowing so little. And that was an answer, actually. He considered the situation for a moment, stepping towards the only possible exit they had made for themselves. The creature had used the force, in a way. It was connected to it and probably not the only one. Turning back ot the Jensaari he nodded. "I bet youÂ´re hard to spot, Kalak-Mure. But we know too little about the enemy and our situation to risk loosing you to a horde of this things. Once we secured basic knowledge of our situation, we will make good use of your skills. Once we know, what we do need to scout, actually." He nodded to the man, showing him, he had understood his line of thinking. He had other reasons for his decision, of course. He did not know the man, or trsuted him or any of the others. They were also possibly outnumbered. He had to know what they faced before sending men out. He coughed. "Okay, everybody listen up. As I see this we have been abducted and imprisoned. By who, is unknown. So if any of you has an idea, please tell the rest of us. I donÂ´t think our host wanted to kill us, or he would have done it already. But I think someone killed our guard and made THIS of it." He pointed at the remains of the Creature. "And IT wants to kill us. So we face two hostile forces. The one who brought us here and the one who created this thing." He nodded into the round. Suddenly he had become their leader. Something that many people enjoyed and some others feared. He had done this for too many years, to feel either of both. Someone had to make the decisions and if it was him, so be it. A Jedi Master wasnÂ´t the worst choice. It was probably the natural one. Oh, Luke, what have you talked me into . . .

"So, we have three priorities right now. Number One, we find out what is going on here and where we are. Number Two, contact help or escape this facility by whatever means available. Number Three, to stay alive and by that I mean all of us." With every number he held his finger up into the air. "Everybody who has no weapon grabs a pipe. We move out together, until we know what weÂ´re facing. Kalak-Mure and me take the lead. Jaden, you take the back. I want both fronts covered by someone who can feel the danger before it happens. Mr. Carbonite, Mr. Vesh, you two stay in our midst but close to Jaden. LetÂ´s move, people." He nodded and checked his weapon. Then turned a last time to Kalak-Mure. "YouÂ´re a scout, then look out for traps, for us. I guess a place like this has some." And as he padded his shoulder to signal to move he gave Jaden a long look.

"Be aware of the force, Jaden. You touched this taint and you felt it. Maybe you can sense it easier when we near it than I can. And take good care." He whispered and moved after the Jensaari. The simple reason why he had asked Jaden

They started walking towards the hole in the wall to whatever lay beyond.

Davin eyed each of the individuals. His training kicked in as he made mental notes of each one. Mr. Outer-Rim had taken the lead. He was Toting the blaster rifle but the dangling Light-Saber hilt told Davin that he may well be a Jedi too. The Coriscantian who'd taken up the rearguard position also had a Light-Saber. The Third one with the vibes straight out of a Medieval Holo-vid was something else altogether. Davin had heard of other organisations that practices Force use and application. This one looked to be a Jensaari Defender. During the reformation of SBI into Imperial Intelligence. There had been orders to indentify, contact, negotiate with and draw into the Happy Fold any Individuals, Groups or Organizations that practiced some form or another of Force Mastery like the Jedi. If they didn't cooperate they were to be Neutralized and Hunted Down. It was then that his inlaw Vyn Narcassan and he began to put the pieces together that had been lying about like a scattered jigsaw puzzle. The Big picture they both came up with was frightening. So Vyn faked his own death because he'd been investigating the transmissions that were being sent and received by somebody high up in the Republic during the Clone Wars. It wasn't until far too late that he'd concluded that it was Palpatine all along, playing both ends of the war to his own personal advantage. Now Davin wished he'd been more original in his method of severing ties with Imperial Intelligence. There must have been a list of those who cut and ran because their politics didn't agree with a New Galatic Order. Fool Imperial Intelligence once and shame on you. Fool Imperial Intelligence twice and shame on them! That was probably why he was in a Carbonite Block to begin with. But somehow he got lost in the shuffle somehow. Then again no point in resurrecting a dead man only to prosecute him all over again. That may have been why he was taken here...for what...experimentation!? Davin shuddered. What were they doing at this place to begin with. How much time had passed since the Imperial reformation had goten started. He had to know!

"Excuse me for asking but my chronometer is shot. Does anyone know at least what year it is?", Davin asked.

Jaden silently listened as Kyle delineated his plan, and sighed in relief when it was decided that they'd all travel together. Naturally, Jaden suspected that Kyle wanted to keep everyone where he could see them, at least until he was absolutely certain they were not a part of whatever was going on. Kyle had told him many stories where an 'enemy' would plant a seemingly innocent 'insider' among those it wished to observe...or worse. Jaden could only hope this was not one of those cases.

Either way, Kyle went on to detail the three priorities, then gave marching orders. Jaden was to take up the rear. Understandably so.

Kyle moved through them as he spoke, then paused when he reached his apprentice.

"Be aware of the force, Jaden. You touched this taint and you felt it. Maybe you can sense it easier when we near it than I can. And take good care."

"I won't fail you... and you be careful too."

Jaden nodded and understood what Kyle wanted him to do. Jaden would be his extra pair of eyes both, physically and in the Force.

"Go."

The command was given, and Jaden waited until every last one had passed him, before he hunched down and himself passed through the hole, but not before he looked back over his shoulder, just to make sure that no 'thing' was following them.

Somewhere in front, someone asked:"Excuse me for asking but my chronometer is shot. Does anyone know at least what year it is?"

Jaden chuckled as he shook his head at the irony that besides not knowing 'where' they were, someone didn't know 'when' either. How lost were they really, he wondered.

Stepping through the hole that was cut in the wall, would place one in a long corridor. View ports along the opposite wall showed a crisp star-field, one you could only get with out an atmosphere to interfere. The corridor ended fifty paces to the right at twin doors, the ones used for turbolifts. To the left the corridor continued for thirty paces before ending in a set of heavy blast doors. The corridor had obviously been deserted for a good length of time, as there was a thin layer of dust coating the floor.

Kyle and Mure step into the corridor, out of the corner of their eye the two might have caught a flicker of blue light in front of the blast doors, but it went as quick as it came.

There was a plaque next to the blast doors control panel that read ?Main Operations?. The indicator on the panel clearly showed the doors were locked.

With a deep rumbling whine, the corridor shuddered and the lights went out, and gravity failed. everything was caught in zero G. It was obvious that the facility had lost power.
Tag: Fins, Vangarian, Rally, Grey, Aurelius

They moved out, covering their bakcs and clearing corridor by corridor. Until they reached that window and before them was the void of cold and endless space. "Looks like we need to ffind a ship." Kyle smiled dryly. A planet would have been just ot easy, would it?

He looked at the blast doors right in front of them. "Main Operations." He quoted the plaque next to it. "We should . . . HEY!" He never ended the sentence, as suddenly he found himself in zero-g, floating to the ceiling. He managed to turn and soften the impact, but failed to grab a steel pipe and floated back to the floor. "Okay, I am getting annoyed." He hissed out. "Everybody okay? Jensaari, I am sorry, but I need you to ask to melt another door for us." He pointed to the Main Operations. "We should get energy back on, before life support is gone, too." He gained hold at a wall and brought up his rifle. Aiming at the door. The moment the lightsaber would burn through the lock, the doors would open automatically. If anything awaited them, he wanted to be ready, at least.

Reaching out with the force he tried to find any sign of life aroudn them. Anything that told him, if they were alone . . .

Kalak followed the Blaster Jedi closely, keeping his eyes and ears peeled. He made no effort to camouflage himself, not in such a big group. The footsteps of the others seemed so loud, but then again, Kalak was always good at being stealthy, even before he learned to use the force to augment his abilities.

He kept his saber in his hand, unignited. Stepping softly, the party walked out into the corridor that Mure had seen just before. They all seemed to stop at the sight of the starry background beyond the view ports. Perhaps Kalak had forgotten to mention that... Blaster commented on the necessity of a ship.

The familiar walls, ceiling and floor gave the impression that they had not even left the room, except for the turbolifts to the right, and the blast doors to the left. Blaster went to the left, towards the blast doors. Kalak knew that if the doors were still powered, they would be easy to break open.

The Blaster Jedi was reading the panel.

"We should . . . HEY!"

He never got to finish his sentence, because suddenly the power went. And with the power went the artificial gravity. Kalak's heavy armor and caution caused him to walk softly, without much horizontal movement. As soon as he felt the gravity dissipate, he stopped moving, and was lucky enough to stay planted on the ground. The Jedi in front of him looked rather comical as he floated up, and bounced of the ceiling.

"Okay, I am getting annoyed." Blaster hissed out. "Everybody okay? Jensaarai, I am sorry, but I need you to ask to melt another door for us."

Kalak knew that the life support was out, but Blaster mentioned it before Kalak could. "I need some inertia to cut through the door, so watch out." Kalak raised and ignited his saber, the red blade flashed to life. Pausing momentarily, to make sure everyone was ready for whatever may lie beyond the door, then he pushed off.

He flew, very slowly, through the air, his saber on a direct collision course with the blast door's locking mechanism. The tip of the blade touched the lock, and Kalak braced his body.

Jaden was the last one to emerge from the dark room and into a dimly lit corridor, a corridor which had viewports.

Jaden wished he could marvel at the star-field on the other side of the transparisteel, but the realization that they were not on a planet, but in-fact, in space, only compounded matters. Jaden shook his head at the sight and suddenly wished he had the astrogation powers of an astromech droid; that way he could tell exactly where they were just by looking at the stars outside, but as luck would have it-no such luck. He was simply Jaden Korr, Jedi apprentice and not an R2 unit.

"Looks like we need to find a ship." Jaden heard Kyle say from in-front of the line. He couldn't agree more with his master, but at this point, he was beginning to doubt that they'd find one, seeing how things were going; which begged the question: How did they all get here in the first place?

To make matters worse, there was a layer of dust all over the corridor, which meant this place has been deserted for quite sometime. A shiver went through the Jedi as he considered the implications of that discovery. No one knew where they were. They were utterly alone.

The line suddenly came to a stop, and Jaden frowned, wondering as to the cause. He looked over the two in-front of him and saw the sealed blast doors. A moment later, he heard Kyle's voice as he read something aloud.

"Main Operations." Kyle quoted. "We should . . . HEY!"

Jaden's master never ended the sentence, as they all suddenly found themselves in zero-g. Somewhere, the power to wherever they were was lost, and now they were in greater danger. For not only did they have to find the power source, they had to risk encountering another revenant and assume they had the ability to turn back on the power...before life support failed completely. In other words, the were on a very serious time challenge.

Jaden was calm during the whole episode, and using his own kinesiology, he flipped and twisted in mid-air as if he were underwater and managed to set himself on the ceiling, upside down. With unlit lightsaber in hand, He decided to stand guard there. He wasn't liking any of this, especially the part that left them vulnerable from the rear. In that respect, Jaden kept an eye on the hole they had just left. They were strategically in a very bad position. Easy pincer maneuver. Nope. Not fun at all.

As he listened to what was happening in the front, Jaden reached out with the Force at the area behind them just to be sure no foul play was in progress.

"Okay, I am getting annoyed." Jaden heard Kyle hiss, which made him chuckle. Whenever Kyle got annoyed, there tended to be some collateral damage.

Jaden heard his master give the Jensaarai instructions to cut the blast doors. Jaden felt bad he couldn't aid the Jensaarai, but his duty was just as important. A second later, the sound of an igniting lightsaber reached his ears and Jaden almost reflexively lit his.

Nothing to be so skittish about. The young jedi chided himself.

In his mind, Jaden was counting the seconds before the blast doors were open, all the while, he was focused on the hole behind them.

Not that he was paranoid or anything, but he simply hated being caught by surprise.

They floated there for a minute while Kyle gave his orders. The revelation that they were in space must have dowsed their hopes a bit, but they must be a hardy bunch for they hardly showed their worry. When the power had gone off, Kyle had been vexed, Jaden calm, Meru took it in stride, Vesh was the only one that was quiet.

Kyle called out to the armored swordsman ?Jensaarai, I am sorry, but I need you to ask to melt another door for us."

"I need some inertia to cut through the door, so watch out." Meru raised and ignited his saber, the red blade flashed to life. Aiming for the door he pushed off.

He flew, very slowly, through the air, his saber on a direct collision course with the blast door's locking mechanism. The tip of the blade touched the lock, and Kalak braced his body.

[hr]

Kyle's attention was only half on the Jensaarai, the rest of his concentration was on the Force. He reached with the Force to gauge the dangers, if any, that lay beyond the blast doors.

No danger sign tingled at his neck like normal. What he felt was unlike anything he had felt before, but familiar at the same time. It reminded him vaguely of the Reborn. Their presence in the Force was warped by the artificial infusion of the Force.

Warped...

No.

This was more like...

Twisted.

Kyle barely noticed as Jaden suddenly turned to the view port, a strange look on his face.

[hr]

Jaden moved like liquid. When the gravity had failed he simply twisted and flipped and was calmly standing on the ceiling. He listened to his master give the Jensaarai an order to melt the door lock.

As the Defender prepared to do so Jaden reached out behind them to the turbolift doors. He was feeling for anything that could harm them, and found nothing. A flash of blue pulled his attention to the view port.

At first there was nothing there. Must have been his mind playing tricks on him. As he looked away his peripheral vision caught the color once more.

All he caught was the appearance of a man in his late thirties with long black hair and a scar running down his face on the left side.

It was all very confusing. It had been just a brief glimpse, but he was positive that he had seen the man. The real confusing part was that he had been outside the view port...

The tip of his saber sunk into the plate with more resistance then he would have thought. It slowed his momentum, and he rotated the blade in the plate to make sure it was well and truly destroyed.

The blast doors made a loud click, then started to retract in to the walls like. It was a four quarter type blast door favored by Imperials. The locking mechanism was also clearly Imperial in origin. As the doors opened a smell wafted to him.

[hr]

They all saw the doors opened to a large round room. It was lit in red emergency lights that cast eerie shadows over the darkened consoles. Of those consoles only a few, the ones that were up on the raised dais in the middle of the room, had any signs of power.

A smell of ozone and corrosion emanated from the room, no doubt from the burnt out consoles. A layer of dust covered every surface just like the corridor.

In the middle of the raised dais stood a figure. Balding head was lowered and his feet were firmly planted, and not a muscle moved. He could have been a statue if stone could have been flesh. The dust covered everything... even the man. It was obvious that he had been standing there, motionless, for months to accumulate as much as there was.

As the doors came to rest, heavy bolts slid into place to lock them open. As if sensing their presence the Man's head snapped up, dust sifting from his hair and crumbling off his coat, and turned t

OOC: I hate to do this in the middle of the game, but I am going to change my username to [link=http://boards.theforce.net/UserPages/Profile.aspx?user=Republic_Anvil]Republic_Anvil[/link]. I will still GM this game, I talked it over with DarthXan318 and its all cool, so don't worry about that.

sorry if this inconveniences anyone. All other information on me will stay the same (email, aim, etc...)

This is the former JediHighlander, now Reborn the Republic_Anvil. And for those who wonder why, I am a blacksmith and I figured I wanted to show it more. Someone already had a Hammer *Cough*..Imperial..*Cough*

Twisted. The force felt twisted and somehow corrupt. Danger, the force showed that, too. The taint Jaden had told him about. And something else. Something artificial. Like DesaanÂ´s Reborn. Like the Ragnos Cultists. Empowered through the force but not naturally connected into it. But different. He wanted to believe that the technique alone did not mean the things was hostile, but he was not exactly the man who relied on hopes. The Dark Side was present.

From the corner of his eyes he saw Jaden turn, felt his strong reaction to something. Then the door opened and the presence he had felt stood before them. Covered in dust.

His rifle came up and he summoned the force instinctivly. The second the grin revealed the beasts teeth he wrapped himself into the protective power of the force. Holding fire until he knew what would be the attack. The lightsaber hissing alive made him curse and he kicked himself of the ground, floating into the right height to help the Jensaari. Not too fast, wait Kyle. Wait until he is blocked.

The thing seemed to have been there for quite some time and the idea it would probably not be hostile vanished the moment Kyle felt it. Sending an alarm into the force to all those able to perceive it, he brought his own rifle up while floating, just as the things leaped forward to attack the Jensaari. Of all of them the one probably least experienced in lightsaber duels. KyleÂ´s hand resisted grabbing for his own blade that wasnÂ´t there anymore. Jerec, Ruusan, The Reborn, the Cult . . . he had seen many duels. But no weapon to make use of this experience.

Then again, it wasnÂ´t like he had never shot someone. "Jaden, cover!" He shouted as the creature unleashed itÂ´s own power.

The corrupt force bristled towards them in a wave of tainted energy. Kyle did not dodge. He needed to know the power of that thing. Instead he unleashed an own wave of force energy, giving it all he could and summoning even more of the living force to his defense. The moment the thingÂ´s lightblade touched the JensaariÂ´s and couldnÂ´t be used to deflect his shots anymore . . . he shot. His bolts went for the head. Three of them. If they did not kill it - like the revenant - they would at least hurt, blind, irritate and limit the thing. Probably giving it enough to do, so the Jensaari could make use of that advantage. Or until Jaden could come to his help.

Hopefully the other two members of their team could handle the combat situation. He had the feeling there was not much room to deal with panic.

The apparition startled Jaden, who'd been expecting something to come out from the chamber they'd just left. Instead, his peripheral vision caught the image of... something.

All he caught was the appearance of a man in his late thirties with long black hair and a scar running down his face on the left side.

Now that he'd seen it, Jaden could never forget such a striking face.

It was all very confusing. It had been just a brief glimpse, but he was positive that he had seen the man. The real confusing part was that he had been outside the view port...

In space...

With no suit on.

Jaden shook his head slightly, when just at that moment, Kalak struck the lock.

Then they ALL saw the blast doors open, and what lay inside.

Jaden was astounded that anything was alive in....wait, alive didn't quite seem to cover it around these parts, besides, the force felt warped...no, 'twisted'. It was the taint again!

But it wasn't affecting him directly this time....which meant...

As he summoned the Force to fill him, Jaden saw the being move and witnessed it become hostile just as soon as it had spotted them. What madness was this!!? It had a working lightsaber too!???

Stay calm... Jaden mentally urged himself.

Kyle! Jaden shouted in warning.

But Kyle was already on the move, and had used the force to protect himself.

"Jaden, cover!" Kyle shouted back. The creature unleashed itÂ´s own power. And with the silent unison and precision born of a Master and Apprentice tag team, both Kyle and Jaden simultaneously countered with force energy of their own!

"Grab anything that can be used as a weapon and cover each other!" Jaden declared to the others.

They were vulnerable if they became scattered. This could not be allowed to happen.

Jaden hated this.

Kyle did not have a working lightsaber and the Jensaarai was left to defend himself against this new menace. Jaden was very tempted to rush into the fray, but he knew he had to hold his position. The only reason to do so was if things got desperate, which they weren't...at least not yet. But it sure seemed close to it. Well, he would use the force to cover and assist the others in battle, since his lightsaber was relegated to defend the rear for the moment.

Jaden also found that he could move through the air a lot faster utilizing the force to propel himself. Good, because if he needed to support any of the others, he'd have to move pretty quickly. Who knew what else was in this room with them.

A flash of the man he'd seen before came to mind, and Jaden knew he just had to have that conversation with Kyle, just as soon as this particular crisis was dealt with.

Davin, not having much of a response to his inquiry lapsed into silence and let the question go. He ducked down and slipped through the still warm hole that the Jensaarai had cut in the wall. Outside he noticed a hallway leading to his left and right. To the right was a set of Turbolift doors. To his left was a blast door. He looked out the view ports trying to discern any recognizable stars or other astronomical features to indicate where they might be. Nothing looked very familiar.

Suddenly there was a lose of power signaled by the gravity failing. Davin was still bent at the legs when it happened so he kicked himself upward so as not to be caught floating helplessly in the middle between the floor and the roof. He caught hold of a power conduit and held fast, then turned himself around with his back to the floor and his head facing towards the blast doors. The Jedi with the Blaster Rifle asked the Jensaarai to cut through the doors The Jensaarai was moving towards the closed blast doors. He'd activated his Lightsaber and had it aimed towards the blast doors as he floated towards it.

Suddenly with a flash of blue outside of the view ports, Davin spotted the face of a man of middle age with a scar running down the left side of his face. The man had long black hair and insanely enough no space suit for protection from the vacumm. Then the face was gone...

Meanwhile the blast doors opened and a figure within was revealed. It turned and faced towards them and came about. Then Davin noticed its teeth. They didn't look right. Neither did the dust that covered its body as it crumbled off and floated away. It activated a yellow bladed Lightsaber. Davin reached for his Happy surprise and waited before going to target the thing, now floating and approaching them. It's lightsaber blade swung around and caught the Jensaarai Defender's lightsaber blade, while similtaneously jestering towards the rest of them. There was yelling between the Jedis as they prepared for combat against the approaching thing. Davin took aim as the thing seemed to be waging a mystical power struggle between itself and the three Force users. Davin aimed towards the head and fired his Happy Surprise at the last possible instant.
Tag: All.

Kyle's force wave met the tainted energy, and they merged into one. For a split second it felt like the to opposing energies were the same and then they were [hl=black]annihilated[/hl]. The air pressure seemed to drop as the implosion collapsed, and with a clap of silent thunder, an explosive concussion wave spread in all directions. It caught Kyle just as he loosed his bolts. They went wide as everyone went pin balling around the room and corridor.

The Dusty Man seemed surprised and a little bit pained as he was flung against the far wall. Eying Kyle with more then just hate the Dust Man pushed off the floor straight up. Just before he hit the ceiling he slashed open a venting grate and disappeared inside.

Kyle notice that his blaster bolts had struck one of the consoles. Without a closer look he wasn't sure but if he had to guess it was the controls to the auxiliary power...

Jaden sensed the Force waves meet and [hl=black]annihilate[/hl]. The concussive blast kicked him off his feet and threw him backwards. He caught a glimpse of the Dust Man as he made his escape, arcing up and through a vent.

The Duros looked to be in good shape, not having taken the brunt of the blast. Mr. Carbonite was cartwheeling through the air towards the control room like he had joined the galactic circus.

Silence filled the corridor, and Jaden finally sensed the area in front of him, the center point of implosion, it was a [hl=black]void[/hl]. Not a void of air or of matter, but a void of Force. It felt like when he had been around ysalamiri, the Force simply did not exist inside that area.

Davin reached for his Happy surprise and waited before going to target the thing, now floating and approaching them. It's lightsaber blade swung around and caught the Jensaarai Defender's lightsaber blade, while simultaneously gesturing towards the rest of them. There was yelling between the Jedi as they prepared for combat against the approaching thing. Davin took aim as the thing seemed to be waging a mystical power struggle between itself and the three Force users. Davin aimed towards the head and fired his Happy Surprise at the last possible instant.

Just as the Force energies met. His bolt passed through the implosion and bent to the side, striking the blast door frame. The implosion pulled him towards the room, when the concussive blast erupted he was sent cartwheeling into the room after the Dust Man. Davin managed to catch a console as the Dust man made his escape.

A blinking on the console caught his attention. It was a unusual console to him, not only was the design unfamiliar but it worked too fast. One of the readouts was blinking, showing that main power, lifesupport and gravity were offline. He also saw the date up in the left corner. He now realized he had been in carbonite for been thirty three years.
TAG: Vangarian